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DEACON JOHN DUNHAM (c. 1589–1689), son of Richard Dunham

ABIGAIL BALLOU (d. aft. 1622), daughter of Thomas Ballou

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John Dunham was born about 1589. He died on 1 March 1668/9, age 80. He married first Susanna Kaino on 17August 1612 in Clophill, co. Bedfordshire. Susan, the daughter of Thomas Cainehoe, was baptized on 12 December 1586 in Clophill. [1] John married second Abigail, the daughter of Thomas Ballou, on 22 October 1622 in Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands. [1]

Abigail died after 1669, when she was executrix of her husband's will.

"Yr 1688 on the first of March dyed John Dunham godley & well esteemed Deacon of the chh on of 80 years old." [2, citing Plymouth church records]

Ward [1] provides a transcription of John and Abigail's marriage record, translated from Dutch:

Banns. Entered Oct 7th, 1623 ... John Dunham from England, widower of Suzanna Keno [?], accompanied by Thomas Balliou [Ballou in Dutch original], his future father-in-law, with Abigail Balliou, spinster, also from England, accompanied by Ann Baliou, her sister. Married before ... , bailiffs on the XXIId. of October 1622.

Susanna's presumed father Thomas was buried on 15 April 1612 in Clophill. [1] Administration was granted to his widow Joan on 7 May 1612. [1] She was buried on 7 February 1630/1 in Clophill. [1]

John was probably the son of Richard Dunham. Richard Dunham, the elder, poulterer of Langford [near Clophill] made his will on 5 October 1624. He mentioned his son William, William's son Richard, son John, daughter Ann, her son Richard, daughter Elizabeth, son Richard, who was the executor, and granddaughter Ellen Underwood. He left his son John his best shirt and 20 shillings "to be paid to him at his retorne." John was in Leiden at the time. This Richard was buried on 19 November 1624 in Langford.

John's first son was baptized in Henlow, near Clophill and Langford, as the son of John and Susan. [1] Henlow was the home of John Tilley, his brother Edward Tilley, and his brother-in-law Richard Cooper, who also had a daughter with the unusal name Humility.

According to a Dutch record, on 15 October 1622, John was living in Zevenhuysen [Zevenhuizen, now about 16 miles by car from Leiden] with his three children John, Humility and Thomas. [2]

The definitive genealogy of John's American family is by Barclay [2], who found previous genealogies to be riddled with errors. Ward [1] provides the details of John's and Susanna's English families. Reed decries attempts to construct a royal ancestry for John through a fictitious Scrooby family. [3]

John was a weaver. [4] He first appears in New England on a 2 January 7 Charles [2631/2] tax list in Plymouth. [5, 1 :9–11]

John was a freeman in Plymouth in 1633. [5, 1 :3–4] He was on a 24 March 1633/4 Plymouth tax list. [5, 1 :27–29]

John Dunham was to "have for the sheepe the watering place & the skirt of upland at Goose Point & above the first & second brooke" in a land distribution on 14 March 1635. [5, 1:40–41] He was given the hay ground he had the previous year and what more could be spared on Goose Creek on 20 March 1636/7. [5, 1: 55–57] He was granted 60 acres of upland at Swann Holt and eight acres of meadow on 16 September 1641. [5, 2: 26]

John was on a committee to determine trade policy for the colony on 1 October 1634. [5, 1: 31]

John was on a 7 March 1636/7 list of freemen in Plymouth. [5, 1: 52–543]

He was on a jury to try Stephen Hopkins for assault on 7 June 1636. [5, 1: 42] He was on a grand jury on 7 March 1636/7, 1 March 1641/2 and 7 March 1642/3. [5, 1: 52–54; 2: 34, 53] John was on a grand inquest jury on 5 June 1638, 6 June 1643 and 7 June 1648. [5, 1: 86–87; 2: 56, 124] He was on the jury that indicted Alice Bishop for murdering her young daughter on 4 October 1648. [5, 2: 134]

John was a deputy for the town of Plymouth on 4 June 1639, 2 June 1640, 27 September 1642, 10 October 1643, 5 June 1644, 20 August 1644, 28 October 1645, 7 July 1646, 1 June 1647, 8 June 1649, 4 June 1650, 3 June 1652, 7 June 1653, 6 June 1654 and 8 June 1655. [5, 1: 126–7, 151–3; 2: 45, 63, 72, 74, 94, 104, 117, 144, 154; 3: 8, 31, 49, 79. ]

John made his will on 25 January 1668/9. He said that he had given his eldest son John his portion "to what I was able and beyond my ability." He left his son Benajah Dunham and son-in-law Stephen Wood (later Atwood) his right to land at Agawam and Sepecan [Rochester]. He left his son Daniel land. He left his son Thomas five pounds. He left his wife Abigail his dwelling house, orchard and other land for life, and named her his executrix. He each of the children he did not name 12 pence, "if they demand it." [6]

Children of John Dunham and Susanna Kaino:

i. John Dunham was baptized on 19 February 1614/5 in Henlow, co. Bedford. [1] He died on 6 April 1692 in Plymouth, age 76 (church record) or 78 (town record). [2] He married Mary ___. The widow Mary Dunham died on 20 March 1698 in Plymouth. [2]

John made his will on 2 February 1691/2; it was proved on 16 April 1692. He named a wife Mary; there is no reason to believe he had any other wives. [2]

ii. Humility Dunham was born in 1617/8. [2] There is no further record of her. [2]

The court made a memorandum that John Dunham the younger had been allowed six acres of land next to the land of John Dunham, the elder, on 7 November 1636. [5, 1: 31] He was granted 20 acres of upland and the "odd hobbs" of meadow that he wanted on 16 September 1641. [5, 2: 26]

Children of Thomas Dunham and Abigail Ballou:

iv. Samuel Dunham was probably born about 1624 in Leiden. [2] He died on 20 January 1711/2, age 88, in Plymouth. [2] He married first Martha (Beals) Falloway, the daugher of John Beals of Hingham and widow of William Falloway, on 29 June 1649. [2] She was born about 1622/3 and died on 26 April 1690. [2] Samuel married second the widow Sarah Watson on 15 January 1693/4. [2]

Samuel was propounded to take up his freedom at the next court on 1 June 1647. [5, 2: 114]

v. Abigail Dunham was born say 1627. She married Stephen Atwood.

viii. Hannah Dunham was born about 1633/4. She died on 1 April 1708, age 73. [2] She married Giles Rickard, Jr. on 31 October 1651. [2] He died on 29 January 1709/10. [2]

ix. Joseph Dunham was born about 1635/6 in Plymouth. [2] He died between 9 March 1702/3, when he made his will, and 16 June 1703, when it was proved. [2] He married first Mercy, the daughter of Nathaniel and Lydia (Cooper) Morton. [2] She died on 19 February 1666/7. [2] He married second Hester Wormell on 30 August 1669. [2] Hester, the daughter of Joseph and Miriam Wormell, was baptized on 21 May 1648 in Boston. [2] She survived Joseph and was the executrix of his will. [2]

x. Benjamin Dunham was born about 1638. [2] He died on 24 December 1680 in Piscataway, New Jersey. [2] He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Edmund Tilson, on 25 October 1660. [2]

xi. Daniel Dunham was born about 1640/2 in Plymouth. [2] He died before 18 February 1677 in Plymouth, when inventory was taken on his estate. [2] He had a wife named Hannah. [2]

References:

[1. Robert Leigh Ward, "The English Origin and First Marriage of Deacon John Dunham of Plymouth, Mass.," The American Genealogist 71 (1996): 130–3.

2. Mrs. John E. Barclay, "Notes on the Dunham Family of Plymouth, Mass.," The American Genealogist 30 (1954): 143–55.

3. Paul C. Reed, "The Fraudulent Ancestry of Deacon John Dunham of Plymouth," The American Genealogist 73 (1998): 101.

4. "The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620–1633, Volumes I-III," digitized book, AmericanAncestors.org, originally Published as: Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, 3 volumes (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 500–603.

5. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of Plymouth Colony: Court Orders, vol. 1, 1633–1640, vol. 2, 1641–1651, vol. 3, 1651–1661, vol. 4, 1661–1668, vol. 5, 1668–1678, vol. 6, 1678–1691 (Boston: William White, 1855, 1866).

6. "Plymouth Colony Wills and Inventories," Mayflower Descendant 17 (1995): 113–4.

7. Jonathan A. Shaw, "John Shaw of Plymouth Colony, Purchaser and Canal Builder," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 151 (1997): 259–85, 417–37, specifically 276.

8. Mrs. John E. Barclay, "Jonathan Dunham of Plymouth and Edgertown, Mass.," The American Genealogist 36 (1960): 243–9.

9. Thomas Weston, History of the Town of Middleborough, Massachusetts (New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1906), 38 (Gershom), 42–42 (Mary), 639–86.

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19-Feb-2024